Without a Trace Season 4

This fourth season of Without a Trace continues on the steps laid out in the previous seasons so don’t expect any big surprises. Again we see people going missing, this time including a 15-year old kid obsessed with safety, a therapist, a former marine and a bike messenger. On the personal front a new member joins the team: Elena Delgado who used to work at Vice and seems to have a prior relationship with Danny Taylor. Meanwhile, Martin Fitzgerald finds himself having to face his inner demons after being shot and getting hooked on painkillers.

Sound and Vision:
The image and sound are equal to the previous seasons. This comes down to good TV-quality images while the 2.0 does its job nicely but we still lack the presence of 5.1 surround.

Extras:
None

Conclusion:
This fourth season of Without a Trace continues the path set out in the previous seasons and innovation comes in the addition of new team member Elena Delgado. The focus this season is also less on Jack Malone and Vivian Johnson but more towards Martin Fitzgerald and Elena. Other than that the series is pretty straight forward and the problem there is that it doesn’t really have anything that makes it stand out of the crowd. It’s a police series that’s well-made but it doesn’t have anything “special”.

People who like this type of series will enjoy watching Without a Trace but people looking for something more can better go watch series like The Shield or The Wire, each having a very specific thing that makes them unique from anything else you’ve ever seen (The Shield with its violence and The Wire with a whole season being on story).

Without a Trace remains one of the better police shows at the moment but starts to feel repetitive and I wonder what the makers will do to regain a “fresh” feeling.